smoozing with Bernie and other Vermont weirdness

My wife and I had to leave Vermont. I trash talked the place on a regular basis. If we hadn't left we would probably be deported from there. The authorities would have escorted us to the border and said, "Don't come back!"

We would not have looked back.

But now I am. What went wrong?.....Nothing!!!!???

Things change. Vermont changed. I changed.

There are some nifty things in Vermont. Our real estate agent name was Von Trapp.

Is that cool or what? Yes, He is part of "The Von Trapps". Great guy. Good agent. Singing skills? I don't know.

Green Mountain coffee roasters? Great coffee. Cabot Cheese? The Best. Ben and Jerry's? Yum, Yum.

You don't need to be in Vermont to get all these good things. Let' move to warmth.

I used to enjoy snow. I am not 10 years old any more. I do not enjoy driving in it. I do not enjoy walking in it. I do not enjoy shoveling it. It gets heavy.

I never enjoyed cold. The only thing you could do was brag about who had the coldest temperature. " It was 137 below zero at my house last night." It was so cold last night penguins were trying to break into my house." My house the temperature was absolute zero. molecules stopped moving for 12 minutes."

Vermont was taking the fun out of our life. The people were the biggest problem.

The problem started in 1957. IBM decided to build a facility in Essex Junction which is a suburb of the small city of Burlington. They hired 400 people. They were mostly liberal democrat engineers. At the time Vermont was a very conservative state. A Democrat could not get elected dog catcher or anything else. This changed with IBM. In the next 50 years the work force climbed to 10,000 workers at IBM.

The northern half of Vermont became very liberal. The Southern half, not so much.

Before IBM showed up Vermont main industry was Agriculture.

The farmers did not trust the newcomers from the big cities. The newcomers thought the farmers were a bunch of old cow herders who didn't know diddly squat or squiddly doo about anything. They didn't trust each other and still don't. The closer you get to Burlington the more you can feel it. It is difficult to make real friends in this area.

The people seem to be very guarded. It is like: "what do you want? Why are you talking to me?" It is difficult to have more than a superficial friendship. It changed the culture and politics of Vermont.

The politicians of Vermont are a pretty cool group. You can smooze with these guys.

Sen. Patrick Leahy is one of the old war horses of Congress. He is a powerful senator.

He is into the National and International scene. Yet, He will be seen all over the place in Vermont. You go to a parade, he's there. You go to work, He's there. (He has been to my worksite at least a half dozen times in the eleven years I worked there.) I have seen him at numerous events. I asked him one time if he was looking for a job at my work place. He said," No, I am saving your job." He showed up at work to announce a multimillion dollar defense contract that we had won. I liked that.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (pic above) is the recipient of the IBM effect on the Vermont culture. He is the only Socialist in the US congress. He was the Socialist Mayor of Burlington before going national. This guy you can spot a mile away. You can also hear him a mile away.

He has a head of unruly white hair. Even when the wind is not blowing it is all over the place. He has a voice that booms. He does not really need a microphone.

Bernie is a grass roots type of guy. He is always fighting for the little guy. He is very unpretentious. He is very well informed. He is a conservative's nightmare. I have been a registered republican all my life, but if I had an issue with the government, he is the guy I would want working for me. He is a very interesting guy. If you are ever in the senate gallery and want to find Bernie look to the left. further...further....further. Look for the unruly white hair over against the left wall. Yes, He is a socialist. He is passionate about it. He is not a nut case. If you want nut case politics, move south.

Fame Is An Elusive Thing.

I have had numerous brushes with fame.  I actually know someone who knew Anna Nicole Smith personally.  I guess that makes me an acquaintance of Anna Nicole.

 The list goes on and on.  I went to a Hermans Hermit's concert in Bridgeport CT in 1965.  I also went to a Hermans Hermit's concert in Vermont in 2005.  after the concert my wife and I got in line so Peter Noone could autograph a CD.  As he signed, he would shoot the breeze with people.

When it was my turn I told him I was at his concert in Bridgeport in 1965.  He said it was a memorable concert because his limo ran over someone.  My faced brightened. "That was me."  we had a connection.

I had another brush with fame in Bridgeport CT.  I went to a nightspot  called "Bill's Castle".  It had  some talent there on Friday nights.  One night they had a singer named Johnny Bennett.  I was told it was Tony Bennett's brother.  When he went to the men's room I followed him.  He used the urinal.  I used the same urinal. I even grabbed one of the pubic hairs.  I believed it belong to Johnny. I saved it for years.  I told people that I used the same urinal as Tony Bennett's brothers. I showed them the pubic hair.  I was almost a celebrity by proxy.

I found out a couple of years ago that Tony Bennett's brother died when Tony was ten years old.   hmmm!  Don't do the math. 

When I was into photography in Vermont,  I thought it would be interesting to take pictures of what people had in their refrigerators.  It was a photographic essay of sorts. Since I lived in Addison County in Vermont I called it "The Fridges of Addison County".  I sent it to a publisher.  He said people weren't interested in what was in a person's icebox.  But he said he liked the title.  A few years later "The Bridges of Madison County" came out.  A best seller.  An Eastwood movie.  I think that fridges are more interesting.  

If my wife could remember names I would know a lot of celebrities.  We will be out walking somewhere in some big city and all of the sudden she say, "We just walked by the guy that married the woman with the big teeth and he is a singer and she is a singer.  He sings a duet with her called mockingbird but now they are divorced and he lost most of his hair."

I'll say "James Taylor? Where?" 

He will be long gone.  She never forgets a face or remembers a name.  I think I missed Elvis several times because of this.

She will say things like, "I wonder why that guy who sings Heartbreak Hotel was getting his gas there?" 

I got even.  One time I said " we just walked by the guy that sells the popcorn." 

she says,"Who cares about Colonel Saunders?"  I said, "No, It was Paul Newman."

Things like this just keep happening.  I am so close to fame I can taste it. but it eludes me.